Sunday, July 19
Sanglah Hospital handles up to 1,000 swab tests/day + Jakarta extends PSBB until end of July as cases continue to rise + Island govt looks to evolve tourism industry to "quality over quantity + more!
Good morning! Welcome to the COVID-19 Update for Bali for Sunday, July 19. Please subscribe and share it with others in the foreigner community on the island. I happily put this daily newsletter together as a public service, and it will be free so long as the current emergency lasts. *A paid subscription is NOT required to access this content.* When signing up, select the "None" option and you'll get it delivered to your Inbox each day. If you would like to support my work, please consider making a voluntary contribution of US$5/month. Supporters receive an early update on the government’s daily infection & recovery numbers each night within an hour or so of their announcement… plus my enduring gratitude!
Status Update
National Numbers:
Bali Numbers:
Regency Numbers:
Confirmed Cases Distribution:
Key: Red = Infected | Green = Recovered | Black = Died
30-Day Trends:
More details on the locations of positive cases within each Regency, as well as the number of suspected cases ("ODP") and people under in-patient observation ("PDP"), can be found in charts & infographics on the websites of each Regency's Covid-19 Task Force:
Badung | Bangli | Buleleng | Denpasar City | Gianyar | Jembrana | Karangasem | Klungkung | Tabanan
Sources:
The national update comes from the Indonesia National Disaster Management Agency: @BNPB_Indonesia
The Bali Numbers infographic comes from the Bali Provincial Government COVID-19 Task Force (link).
The Confirmed Cases Distribution map & Regency Numbers figures come from the Bali Provincial Government's data collection department (link).
NOTE: While the national government includes daily testing totals in its infographic, Bali’s provincial government does not routinely release this data, so it is not included.
The Big News
"Sanglah Hospital Serves PCR Test 450-1,000 Specimens Per Day' from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): Sanglah Hospital Denpasar, the largest hospital in Bali as well as one of the Covid-19 referral hospitals currently serving Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests, is processing 450-1,000 specimens every day. "The ability to test PCR per day averages 450-1,000 specimens. While the number of samples tested counted from March to June there was 29,002," said Head of Public Relations of Sanglah General Hospital, Dewa Ketut Kresna... Meanwhile, according to the Microbiology Laboratory Coordinator at Sanglah Hospital, Dr. I Nengah Tony Rustawan, the results of the Covid-19 PCR laboratory examination, are usually issued one day. "If there are certain conditions, for example an examination that results is inclusive or indeterminate, it requires a longer examination besides the large number of samples due to the current outbreak situation," said Dr. Tony.
"Large-scale Social Restrictions Extended" from Indonesian Expat: The large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) that are currently in place in Indonesia in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been extended again. The PSBB phase 1 transition has been extended for an additional 14 days as of Thursday 16th July... Anies Baswedan, DKI Jakarta Governor explained the latest data surrounding the coronavirus in Jakarta. In the past week, there has been a 5.9% increase in individuals testing positive for the virus. There has been a 45% increase in hospital bed occupancy rates.
"Deputy Governor: COVID-19 Teaches Bali to Fix Tourism" from Antara (Indonesian): Deputy Governor of Bali Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati has a view that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught the local area to improve tourism so that it is more concerned with quality than quantity. according to him, tourists from China are famous for their mass tourism because they come in droves to Bali. "We need to think about this, on the one hand we must provide comfort for them, but we must also pay attention to the nature of Bali so that it is always awake and not become a victim of tourism," he said. "Until now, Chinese tourists have always dominated the highest number of visits in Bali. So we have to really prepare, what are their needs and efforts to preserve the environment and culture of Bali as well."
Other Headlines
"Chinese Tourists Already Miss Bali, Nearly One Million Participants Want to Visit Bali in Early July" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): According to the Indonesian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China and Mongolia, Djauhari Oratmangun, based on data up to July 17, a topic often discussed by citizens in China was Bali, which reached 370 times. "On July 4th alone there were almost one million Chinese citizens who said that they wanted to visit Bali after Covid-19 was completed," he said. Djauhari also said that currently his team was conducting a promotion to stimulate tourists from foreign countries, especially China to Indonesia. "We are also making hashtags #WorkingFromIndonesia, to create interest for tourists coming to Indonesia," Djauhari added.
Non-Covid News of Note
"Foreigner Vanishes At Batu Bolong Beach, Swallowed by Waves" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): A foreign citizen whose identity has not been identified has been reported lost by the waves while swimming in Batu Bolong Beach, Canggu Village, North Kuta, Badung. Because the situation at the location was dark and it was not possible to conduct searches at sea, the team with lighting tools searched along the shoreline... "Last night the team coordinated with related agencies and also the local community tried to dig up information, especially the position where the victim sank," said Gede Darmada, Head of the Denpasar Search and Relief Office. "As for the identity of the victim, we are still digging information, and last night we also coordinated with the hotel where he was staying," he said.
"In Denpasar, Pertalite Consumption Increases 92%" from Antara (Indonesian): In the more than two weeks since entering the "New Era" period, daily consumption of Pertalite in the Denpasar area has increased 92%, according to V Rustam Aji, Communication Relations & CSR Unit Manager for Pertamina MOR. "The increase is not only because there is a promo price, because of the average 415 kiloliters (kl) per day, the proportion of Pertalite special prices is only about one third, or 139 kl per day. While the majority are Pertalites at normal prices." In addition to Pertalite, an increase in consumption also occurred for the use of Pertamax in Denpasar by 31%.
How You Can Help
In response to the collapse of the tourism sector in Bali and the resulting economic crisis, dozens of individuals and organizations have sprung into action, raising funds and distributing badly needed food and everyday essentials to the innumerable families who have suddenly fund themselves without any source of income. We've been making an effort to document and raise awareness of these efforts. We will add information on projects in this space as we are able to confirm them. If you'd like to see a list of the efforts that we've featured so far and contribute to them with either time or money, visit our complete list here. You can also see a list of projects that have registered themselves at BaliSolidarity.org. If you know of an effort and would like to have them listed, please send their information to newsletter@migrationmedia.net.
Resources
Important information for foreigners who are staying on the island, such as designated COVID-19 hospitals and emergency contact numbers, can be found by following this link.
The government has cancelled its visa-on-arrival process and rolled out enhanced entry requirements for people traveling to Indonesia; they have also cancelled the automatic Emergency Stay Permit program that had been extended to most foreigners who are still in the country on temporary stay visas. You can see a (translated) list of all of the relevant entry regulations on the Directorate General of Immigration & Ministry of Law and Human Rights' website here. Scroll down halfway to the heading "Foreign nationals still residing in Indonesia due to suspending departure and ITAS & ITAP holders overseas" to see their list of which visas can still be extended. If you reside in Badung Regency, from the southern end of the island up to North Kuta, you need to make an appointment with the Immigration office in the Airport before you go in. You can make your appointment here. Follow them on social media to receive policy updates as soon as they are released: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Local travel website Traveloka has a helpful page with a summary of what’s needed to travel to and within the country. You can also order a rapid test or swab (PCR) test via their platform: Link
The British Embassy in Jakarta has recently posted a great summary of the Indonesian government's travel restrictions on their Facebook page. You can read it here.
The EU has launched a website to help travelers stay informed about how member states will be accelerating the reopening of their borders. Through the “EU Re-open” website, travelers can enter the name of the country they wish to visit and find out the rules that will apply after each place's coronavirus lockdown. Information on the EU Re-open website and app will continue to be updated in line with the developments of the coronavirus pandemic.
If you are trying to plan travel anywhere, here are some of the best up-to-date resources that can help you:
IATA Travel Center Update - The International Air Transport Association is the global lobbying body for the aviation industry. Their Travel Information Manual Automatic (Timatic) database feeds into airlines' reservation systems, so it is the most reliable list of flight restrictions around.
Revolver Maps' Travel Restrictions Database - This list pulls directly from IATA's Timatic database and arranges the countries in lists that are easier to navigate and creates share-able links for every country. NOTE: This is a third-party service and they warn that the updates to their system can be delayed by several hours for certain countries.
Al Jazeera Travel Restriction & Border Shutdown Tracker - A companion list that includes less technical summaries of each country's travel restrictions, beyond just flights and airport access.
About This Newsletter
This newsletter is a product of Migration Media, the hub for stories from and about the international migrant experience.
Our standards
We only include news items from established media sources
We do not share rumors.
We do not include opinion pieces or forecasts.
For all stories marked "Indonesian" I have used Google Translate to convert it from Bahasa. In most cases I will polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary in proper English to help clarify the details.
For any questions, comments or tips, please contact us at newsletter@migrationmedia.net.